The tragic reason this $500 school backpack is selling out.

The summer holidays are over and kids in the United States are getting ready to go back to school.

But while parents prepare to send their kids into the new school year, a military hardware company have been swamped with orders for bulletproof backpacks.

Created by Israeli company Masada Armour, the backpacks are designed to withstand bullets from weapons as powerful as AK-47s – and parents are buying up quick to protect their kids amid the horror of US school shootings.

Despite their whopping $500+ price tag, orders for the backpacks are flying in so fast, the manufacturing company have had to scale up production to cope with the demand from worried US parents.

“We designed a bulletproof backpack at the request of our distributors in the United States after the huge trauma caused by the February shooting in Florida,” Snir Koren, CEO of the manufacturing company told the AFP.

“Since then, orders from the United States have been coming in,” he added.

“In two months we have sold hundreds and are gearing up to increase production rates to 500 units per month.”

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The company also reported a 30 per cent spike in sales following February’s tragic Parkland, Florida shooting which resulted in the deaths of 17 people.

Masada Armour are now planning on manufacturing a smaller, lighter model to suit younger, primary school aged children.

The fact that demand for bulletproof backpacks is so high truly reflects the devastating state of gun violence in America.

According to CNN, between January and May this year, there were 22 school shootings where someone was hurt or killed. That’s 22 school shootings in a mere five months.

And in 2018 alone, twice as many Americans have died in school shootings than at war, according to US military data and media reports of school shootings.

But while parents reach for bulletproof backpacks to protect their children, the US Education Department secretary Betsy DeVos suggested allowing US schools to purchase guns to protect students.

But until a real solution is put in place, parents and their children will just have to keep resorting to bulletproof backpacks and doorstops in bags.